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I’d love to say that All About Eve is a great movie. Certainly, anyone who watches the DVD extras would get the impression that it is. And if you believe what you hear in the archival interview footage filmed at the time of All About Eve’s release and even many years after, you would probably expect that it’s one of the best movies of the mid-20th century. I think the word perfect was even mentioned several times in the interviews.

I have to say, though; I don’t get it. My take is that it’s a movie with greatness at its heart with lots of fluffy show-biz-type stuff covering it up. The fluffiness comes mostly from a stellar cast that for some reason thought campy would play better than sincere. Many of the characters vamp instead of speak and whine instead of interact, which grows old after just a few minutes. This came as a surprise to me because Miss Bette Davis (along with everyone else in All About Eve) obviously can act. Just one example of that is Now, Voyager, which features BD at her most subtle best.

The rest of the fluff comes from a script that takes itself just a little too seriously. This was another surprise. According to the archival interviews, Eve was the only script in which Davis — famous for angering writers and producers by rewriting scripts — never changed a word because she felt it couldn’t be improved.

Having said all that, I hope I haven’t completely poisoned you against All About Eve. There is some witty dialog, and the themes in the movie are just as timely and worthwhile today as they were in 1950. In fact, you could even say the character of Eve is a timeless icon. Throughout the movie, she worms her way into everyone’s hearts, smiling while she stealthily scratches and claws her way to the top. Sycophantic and obsessed, Eve brought herself from waiting every night by the stage door of the theater where her idol Margo Channing stars in a hit play to finally eclipsing the object of her affection. It reminded me a lot of the time I spent in corporate America.

Without giving away the ending, I’ll tell you that it all works out as the old “what comes around goes around” kicks in for Dear Eve. The ending is actually where the script comes to life for me. There’s an ominous quality to it because we know justice is at hand. I couldn’t help having a Cheshire cat grin as the film reached its conclusion because I knew Eve was going to get a taste of her own medicine — even if it was only going to be off-camera. Whatever the movie’s flaws, that fact actually made it worth the popcorn to me.

Movie trivia from All About Eve

• Tallulah Bankhead, Susan Hayward, Marlene Dietrich, Claudette Colbert, Ingrid Bergman and Gertrude Lawrence were all considered for the part of Margo Channing before Darryl F. Zanuck hired Bette Davis.
• According to the casting director’s list, Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis (eventually, Mrs. Reagan) were considered for the roles of Bill Sampson and Eve Harrington.
• Bette Davis was in the process of breaking up with husband William Sherry while she was making All About Eve. Her raspy voice in the film is due a burst blood vessel in her throat from screaming at her soon-to-be-ex-husband. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz liked the quality it gave her voice so he encouraged Davis not to try to change it.
• Zsa Zsa Gabor kept coming to the set because she was jealous of her husband George Sanders’ scenes with Marilyn Monroe.
• Bette Davis fell in love with co-star Gary Merrill while shooting All About Eve. They married in July 1950, which was just a few weeks after filming wrapped. They eventually divorced years later.

Other Tricky Movie Trivia classic movie reviews:

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• My Man Godfrey
• Now, Voyager
• The Enchanted Cottage
• Born Yesterday

You might also be interested in our trivia quiz about famous movie quotes from Bette Davis movies.